Expansible drum for winding bands



Jan. 29, 1963 w. THEOBALD EXPANSIBLE DRUM FOR WINDING BANDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001',- 6. 1960 INVENTOR. WM ffiLM BY fi ww .f- A wa Af/ *7 I Jan. 29, 1963 w. THEOBALD 3,075,720

EXPANSIBLE DRUM FOR WINDING BANDS Filed Oct. 6. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 p l a United States Patent 3,975,720 EXPAl EmLE DRUM 536R WlNDlNG BANDS Walter Theobald, iegen, Germany, assignor to Siemag Siegener Maschinenbau G.m.b.H., Dahlbrnch, Westphalia, Germany Filed 0st. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 6%,969 Claims priority, application Germany Got. 7, 1959 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-72) The present invention relates to apparatus for winding bands of metal and the like.

More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for winding a metal hand during cold rolling thereof. As is well known, during the cold rolling of metal bands the band which is cold rolled is derived from a supply drum on which the band to be cold rolled is located and after the cold rolling the band is wound on a take-up drum. The supply drum is located in advance of the cold rolling apparatus and the take-up drum is located just after the cold rollint apparatus and the metal band moves from the supply drum to the take-up drum while passing through the cold rolling apparatus to be treated thereby. It is conventional to drive the take-up drum at a speed faster than the supply drum so as to maintain the band under considerable tension while it is being cold rolled.

As a result of this tension in the band the take-up drum is under considerable stress and particular problems are involved in providing rugged take-up drums which will not be damaged. in addition to the force resulting from the tension in the band itself during the cold rolling thereof, the band becomes heated during its cold rolling as a result of the action of the rolling apparatus on the band, and the band is therefore wound at an elevated temperature onto the take-up drum and cools thereon with the result that the band shrinks on the take-up drum and thus produces additional stresses in this way. Because of the tremendous forces to which such drums are subjected, it does not infrequently happen that the drums become damaged not only requiring replacement, but also necessitating interruptions in the operations.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a drum of the above type which will not become damaged due to excessive forces which tend to be applied to the drum.

Another object or" the present invention is to provide a drum of the above type which will have no bending forces applied thereto irrespective of the width of the band which is wound onto the drum.

A further object of the present invention is to provide aydrum of the above type which will operate automatically to provide a large resistance to relatively large forces when the latter occur.

it is also an object of the present invention to provide a drum of the above type which can be very easily controlled to be placed in a condition which will enable a band wound thereon to be easily removed therefrom.

it is also an object of the present invention to .provide structure capable of accomplishing all of the above objects and at the same time composed of simple rugged elements which are very reliable in operation.

With the above objects in View the invention includes, an apparatus for winding metal bands or the like, a drum having a segment which is movable with respect to the remainder of the drum. A moving means is movably carried by the drum and cooperates with the segmentfor moving the latter away from the axis of the drum when the moving means moves in anexpanding direction and freeing the segment for movement towardthe axis of the drum when the moving means moves in a contracting direction. A hydraulic means cooperates with the moving means to move the latter in the expanding direction, and this hydraulic means is, in accordance with the present invention, yieldable so that it will automatically yield when forces applied to the drum exceed a certain value, and in this way injury to the drum is reliably avoided.

The novel features which are considered as character istic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a drum according to the invention in a transverse sectional view taken on line l-li of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 2 illustrates the drum of the invention in a longitudinal section taken on line 2-2 of PEG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the drum taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 shows the structure at the lower part of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 illustrates diagrammatically the hydraulic apparatus of the invention;

FiG. 6 is a wiring diagram of the electrical structure; and

PEG. 7 is a transverse section taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings, the drum illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and 7 is supported for rotation about its axis and is driven in any known way by any suitable electrical motor or the like. The drum includes the body and the pair of movable segments 4 which are carried by the body 1 for movement with respect thereto. Thus, it will be seen that the drum has its body 1 formed with a pair of symmetrical cutouts extending axially therealong for accommodating the pair of segments 4, and the body 1 and end wall 1. (FIG. 2) carry a pair of axially extending rods 4 which extend through upper portions of the segments i, as viewed in H6. 1, so that in this way these segments a are supported for swinging movement toward and away from each other toward and away from the axis of the drum for increasing or decreasing the effective exterior diameter of the drum. The pairof drum segments 4 have bottom free end portions located adjacent to anddirected toward each other. In order to fasten an end of a band to the drum, the body 1 is formed with a longitudinally extending slit 2 (FIG. 1) which communieates with a recess in which a clamping member 3 is located. The clamping member 3 is fixedly carried by a rod carried by the drum for turning movement about an axis parallel to the drum axis, and when the member '3 is turned in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, it .Will clamp an end of the hand between the member 3 which is of a substantially elliptical cross section and the upper sta f ace of .the slit 2 which is inclined downwardly tojtheright, as viewed in FIG. 1. The clamping member3 is turned in any suitable way between its clamping and unclarnping positions. For example, as is shown at the right of the member 3 in FIG. 2, the drum body 1 may be formed with a recess which will receive a wrench or ren ovable handle or the like which can be fastened to therod which carries the member 3 for turning the latter, and thereafter this handle or wrench or the likeis located either entirely in the recess of the body or is removed so that itdoes not project beyond the exterior surface ,,of the drum. Of course, the leading end of the band which is fastened to the drum in the slit 2 thereof is cut 3 so as to have a width corresponding only to the length of the slit 2, while the remainder of the band of course can extend over almost the entire width of the drum.

The lower free ends of the swingaole drum segments 4 are respectively formed with axially extending recesses of substantially semi-circular cross section, and these recesses receive the elongated guide members 5 which are also of substantially semi-circular cross section, as shown in FZGS. l and 4. a

A moving means is provided for moving the segments 4, and this moving means takes the form of an elongated moving member 6 having an outer longitudinally extending edge portion of substantially wedge-shaped configuration, and this part of the moving member 6 has exterior, oppositely inclined surfaces respectively engaging the flat sides of the guide members 5. Thus, as the member 6 moves radially away from the axis of the drum in an expanding direction it will act through the guide members 5 'on the segments 4 to move the latter away from the drum axis, while when the member 6 moves radially toward the drum axis in a contracting direction, the drum segments 4- will be free to move inwardly toward the axis of the drum. The drum body 1 is formed with an axially extending groove which extends along the entire length of the drum body, except for its right end portion, as viewed in PEG. 2, this groove of the body 1 has an inner surface 15 which forms that surface of the groove which is nearest to the axis of the drum. The elongated moving means 6 extends axially oi the drum and is slidable in this groove and guided thereby for movement radially toward and away from the drum axis.

A hydraulic means is provided for moving the member 6 radially away from the axis of the drum, and in accordance with the present invention this hydraulic means includes a plurality of cylinders formed by a row of cylindrical recesses 7 formed in the body of the elongated moving member 6 itself. The row of recesses 7 have open ends directed toward the inner surface 25 of the axial groove of the drum body 1, and a plurality of floating pistons S are respectively siidable in the cylinders 7, with the exception of a single fixed piston 9 which has an upper threaded end, as viewed in PEG. 2, threadedly connected with the drum body l at the inner surface 15 of the axial groove formed therein. The distribution of the cylindrical recesses '7 along the member 6 will be determined by the maximum load which is to be encountered by the drum of the invention.

The drum is formed with an axial bore 11 communieating at an end of the drum with a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure such as, for example, oil. Thus, the rotating drum, may have at one end a suitable fitting communicating with the bore 11 and turning fluid-tightly with another fitting through which fluid is supplied to the bore 11. It will be noted that thefixed piston 9 is formed with an axial bore 12 communicating with the axial bore 11 of the drum, and all of the cylindrical recesses of the moving member 6 respectively communicate with a plurality of transverse bores 14 formed in the moving member 6. This moving member 6 is additionally formed with a longitudinal distributing passage 13 communicating with all of the transverse bores 1 -3. Thus, as is shown most clearly in PEG. 2, the fluid under pressure which is supplied through the axial bore 11 of the drum will flow from the bore 11 radially through the bore 12 and through the transverse bore 14 communicating with the cylinder which receives the piston 9 into the distributor passage 13 and. from the latter through the remaining transverse bores 14 into the remaining cylindrical recesses 7 to engage the several pistons 8 at the faces thereof which are directed away from the drum axis and thus cause the end faces of the pistons 8 which are nearer to the drum axis to press against the inner surface 15 of the groove which receives the member 6. In this way the fluid under pressure in the several cylinders will urge the member 6 radially away from the drum axis in its expwding direction and the member 6 will thus be urged by the hydraulic fluid under pressure outwardly away from the drum axis to a position where it turns the segments 4 away from the drum axis to their outer positions.

The piston 9 has a threaded portion it} which is threaded directly to the body it of the drum, and if desired more than one fixed piston 9 may be provided for delivering the fluid under pressure to the distributor passage 13.

A spring means is provided for urging the elongated moving means 5 radially toward the axis of the drum when the hydraulic fluid under pressure does not urge the members 5 away from the axis of the drum, and this spring means includes (FiGS. 3 and 7) a pair of springs in fixed by suitable hooks or the like to each end of the member 6. These springs are also fixed to the rods 4' adjacent the ends thereof, so that the pair of springs at each end of the drum body 1 cooperate with the member 6 to urge the latter toward the axis of the drum, and thus when the fluid pressure drops the springs 16 will act to move the member 6 in its contracting direction toward the drum axis to displace hydraulic fluid out of the cylinders 7 and back through the passage 11 out of the drum, and of course this movement of the moving member 6 in its contracting direction frees the swinging drum segments 4 for movement inwardly toward the drum axis.

Thus, the surface 15 of the groove limits the inward movement of the moving means 6. The outward movement of the moving means 6 in its expanding direction is limited by the pair of rings 17 carried by the drum adjacent its outer ends and engaging free ends of the member 6, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for limiting the outward movement of the moving means 6. These rings 17 also limit the outward movement of the segments 4- each of which as its opposite ends engaging the rings 17 when the moving means 5 is in its outer end position. At a start of a winding operation the memer 6 is in its outer end position engaging the rings 17 and the drum segments 4 are also in their outermost positions engaging the rings 17. in these latter outer positions the drum segments 4 cooperate with the drum body 1 to form a drum whose exterior surface forms almost a continuous cylinder.

Drums of this type are used for winding bands of various widths, and the length of the drum is made sufliciently great so that the drum can accommodate the band of the largest width which is likely to be encountered during use of the drum. The cylinders 7 are uniformly distributed along that portion of the drum which is engaged by a band of the largest width. When a band of a width substantially less than this largest width is wound on the drum, one or more of the cylinders 7 at each end of the row of cylinders will be located laterally beyond the band and will not be surrounded by the band. If fluid under pressure is supplied to these latter end cylinders as well as the remaining cylinders, then the force of the band will not counteract the force of the fluid in these end cylinders, and thus the unopposed force of the fluid in the end cylinders will tend to bend the member 6 and may result in undesirable injury to the apparatus. In order to avoid this undesirable result, a plug means 18 is provided. This plug means it; takes the form of a plurality of threaded plugs 18 threaded into suitable threaded bores formed in the member 6, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, a pair of the cylinders 7 at each end of the row of cylinders have their transverse bores 14 in communication with the threaded bores which receive the plugs 18, and when these plugs iii are threaded inwardly toward the drum axis to the end position shown in P16. 2, the conical ends of the plugs 18 close the transverse bores 14 communicating with the pair of end. cylinders 7 at each end of the row of cylinders, and thus the hydraulic fluid will not be supplied to these end cylinders so that the undesirable bending force referred to above will not occur. Any desired number of plugs 18 may be provided communicating with any desired number of cylinders at each end of the row of cylinders, so that hydraulic fluid will be supplied only to those cylinders which are actually surrounded by the band which is wound from the drum, and thus the hydraulic fluid in several cylinders will be opposed by the force of the band and there will be no cylinders provided with hydraulic fluid which is not opposed by the force in the band so that there will be no unbalance tending to bend the member 6. The plugs 18 are manually turned with any suitable wrench or the like between their opened and closed positions. When the plugs 18 are turned to their open positions they do not extend outwardly beyond the exterior surface of the member 6. A further advantage resulting from the provision of the plugs 18 is that when these are moved to a closing position closing oif selected cylinders less hydraulic fluid is used and therefore less time is required for the movement of the hydraulic fluid to the several cylinders so that the entire operation requires less time.

The purpose or" the above-described hydraulic structure is to quickly move the moving member 6 from its inner retracted position to its outer position where it locates the segments 4 out against the rings 17, and in order for the hydraulic means to accomplish this result it need not have a particularly high pressure and it need only to overcome the friction of the moving parts as well as the force of the springs 16. However, this movement of the member 6 in its expanding direction must take place rapidly so as not to detract from the speed of the operation. Durin the actual winding of a band on to t'.e drum, however, large forces will be applied to the drum and will call for a fluid pressure whose magnitude will prevent any over-stressing of the parts of the drum. The control structure for producing these various fluid pressures is illustrated in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it will be seen that all of the hydraulic fluid is derived from a pump 21 which sucks the fluid from any suitable reservoir. The pump 21 pumps the fluid through a non-return valve 22 which permits the fluid to flow to the right, as viewed in FIG. 5, but prevents the fluid from flowing to the left back toward the pump 21. The conduit which communicates with the non-return valve 22 also communicates with a pressure accumulator 24 in the form of a tank having therein a gas such as nitrogen, and the fluid which is pumped by the pump 21 into the accumulator 24 Will compress the nitrogen therein until the fluid reaches a certain pressure. This latter pressure is determined by .a pressure relief valve 23 which is adjustable so as to determine the maximum pressure of the fluid in the accumulator 24-. Once this relatively high pressure of the fluid in the accumulator 2 is reached, the valve 22 closes and the fluid purn ed by the pump 21 now passes through the valve 23 to a second non-return valve 28 which permits the fluid to flow through to a second accumulator 2-6 identical with the accumulator 24 but operating at a lower pressure, and the non-return valve 28 prevents the fluid'from flowing back toward the valve 23. The pressure of the fluid in the accumulator 26 is controlled by an adjustable relief valve 27 which is set so as to provide in the accumulator 2s a pressure only great enough to move the moving member 6 out to its outer position preparatory to winding a band on the drum. Thus, the accumulator 26 forms a low pressure means while the accumulator 22 forms a high pressure means. When the pressure set by the relief valve 27 is attained in the ac cumulator 26, the relief valve 27 opens and the fluid flows back to the reservoir from which the fluid is drawn by the pump 2.1.

A valve 59 communicates with the accumulator 26 downstream of the latter, and this valve 50 also communicates with a conduit '51 which leads to the axial bore 11 of the drum. A solenoid M is operatively connected with the valve 50 for opening the latter when the automatically energized.

solenoid M is energized, and when this solenoid is unenergized the valve is automatically maintained in its closed position by any spring or the like. Thus, upon energizing of the solenoid M the valve 50 will open and the fluid under low pressure in the accumulator 26 will flow through the conduit 51 into the bore lll to be supplied to the several cylinders 7 so as to move the moving means 6 in its expanding direction away from the axis of the drum so as to place the segment 4 in their outer position preparatory to winding of the band on the drum.

The free end of the band is now placed in the slit 2 and the member 3 is turned in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, so as to clamp the free end of the band to the drum 1, and now the drum 1 can be rotated to wind the band on the drum. As was pointed out above, the band will have a certain tension in it during windin of the band on to the drum. As a result of this tension the band which is wound onto the drum will urge the segments 4 radially in toward the axis of the drum, and thus the segments 4 will at this time urge the moving means 6 inwardly toward the axis of the drum. As .a result the pressure in the cylinders '7 will increase. However, the solenoid M is manually operated and it is only 'maintained energized for a relatively short time suflicient to move the moving means 6 to its outer position. Once the moving means '6 is in its outer position, the operator :de-energizes the solenoid M, so that the valve St) is closed when the band is attached to the drum and the winding starts, and thus the fluid cannot flow back through the valve 5d to the accumulator 26. After the first convolution of the band is wound onto the drum, a second solenoid lis energized, and this second solenoid may be manually energized although it is preferred to automatically energize the solenoid M in response to the increase of the pressure of the fluid esulting from the winding of the band onto the drum. The conduit 51 communicates with a pressure gage 3t), and in a manner described below in connection with PEG. 6 when the pressure reaches a certain value as sensed by the pressure gage 3d the solenoid M' will be This solenoid is operatively connected with a valve 25 for opening this valve when the solenoid M' is energized, and thus upon opening of the valve 25 the high pressure means 24 will be placed in communication with the fluid in the several cylinders 7 so as to maintain this fluid at the high pressure determined by the setting of the adjustable relief valve 23. Because of the higher pressure derived from the accumulator 24, the moving means 6 will remain in its outer position. The tension in the band which is wound onto the drum and the shrinking thereof resulting from cooling, as described above, will after a while exert inwardly directed forces on the segments 4, moving the latter inwardly and moving the moving means 6 inwardly toward the drum .axis as a result of the increasing force derived from the band, and this will result only in displacement of fluid from the cylinders 7 into the accumulator 2d, and of course when the pressure exceeds the value set by the adjustable relief valve 23 the fluid will simply flow through the latter valve and then through the valve 28 to the accumulator 26 where it will remain unless the pressure is at the value determined by the relief valve 27. in this latter event the fluid will simply flow through the relief valve 27 back to reservoir. In this way the drum of the invention is protected against injury since the hydraulic means is yieldable and will automatically yield to stresses which otherwise would cause excessive stressing and injury to the drum. Thus, overloading of the drum of the invention is avoided.

At the end of the winding operation a third solenoid M is energized, and this solenoid serves to open a third valve 53 which communicates with the conduit 51 and with the reservoir. Upon opening of the valve 53 by energizing of the solenoid M the pressure in the hydraulic fluids suddenly drops back to atmospheric pres- 69 the switch can be gage 3% will be closed.

aorsnao sure and the springs 16 now move the member ti inwardly toward the drum axis so that the segments 4 are free to turn inwardly toward the drum axis, and as a result the outer diameter of the drum is reduced and the band can now be very easily removed from the drum over the left end thereof, as viewed in MG. 2. As will be apparent from the description of FlG. 6, when the solenoid I is energized the solenoid M' is necessarily unenergized, so that with the opening of the valve 53 the valve 25 is necessarily closed and the fluid from the accumulator 24 can no longer communicate with the cylinders 7.

The valve 23 is set for the highest operating pressure of the fluid in the drum, while the valve 27 is set for the low pressure necessary to move the member 6 to its outer position before the winding is started. In order to protect the structure against excessive pressures sub- 'stantially higher than that for which the valve 23 is set, a pair of safety valves 32 are provided, these valves being also pressure relief valves which are adjustable and which are set at a pressure substantially higher than that of the valve 23. Thus, one of the safety valves 32 communicates with the accumulator 24 while the other safety valve 32. communicates with the accumulator 26, and if it should happen that for some reason the pressure should become excessively high these safety valves 32 will open so as to allow the fluid to turn to the reservoir and injury to the drum will be avoided.

Referring now to FIG. 6, it will be seen that the current for energizing the several solenoids is derived from any suitable source 55. A manually operable switch 56 is electrically connected with the source 55, and this switchrdo is of the single direction type which can be turned by the operator only in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 6 During this turning the blade 57 of the switch 56 will successively come into contact with the contacts 58, 59, and 6%. After leaving the contact turned further in a clockwise direction so as to again engage the contact 58. The solenoid M is connected to the contact 53 while the solenoid M is connected to the contact 59, and the contact M" is connected to the contact ea. In series with the sole noid M is the pointer of the pressure gage 3%}, this pointer forming a movable arm of a switch. When the pointer has moved in a clockwise direction as viewed in ElG. 6, through a distance sufiicient to engage the contact 61, the circuit between the solenoid M' and the As is apparent from FIG. 6, only one of the solenoids can be energized at any one time. Thus, in order to start the operation the operator will place the arm 57 of the switch S6 in engagement with the contact 58 so as to energize the solenoid M and thus cause the moving means to be moved in its expanding direction to its outer position, as described above.

Gnce this position is reached the operator places the arm 57 in engagement with the contact 59 and then the band is attached to the drum to be Wound thereon. During the winding of the band on the drum the pressure or the fluid will increase, and shortly after the winding has started the pressure sensed by the gage 3% will be sutiicient to place the electrical pointer in engagement with the contact 61, with the result that the solenoid M' will be automatically energized in order to open the valve 25. At the end of the operation, during which the arm 57 remains in contact with the contact 5?, the operator advances the arm 5'7 of the switch as to contact so, thus tie-energizing the solenoid M' so as to cause the valve 25 to be closed, and energizing the solenoid Iv so as to open the valve 53 which thus causes the sudden drop pressure of iiuid in the cylinder 7 so that the springs 16 will return the parts to their rest position as described above.

In order to reduce the friction between the member 6 and the guide members 5 on the one hand, and these members 5 and the segments a, on the other hand, the member 6 is formed with a plurality of throttling passages 33 of extremely small diameter communicating with the several cylinders '7, and the guide members 5 are formed with throttling passages 34 of small diameter which respectively communicate with the bores 33. Thus, a small amount of the fluid in the cylinders '7 will flow through the passages 33 and 34 to the exterior surface or the members 5 so as to greatly reduce the friction at the sliding contact of the members 5 with the member 6 and the segments 4. As a result during movement of the member 6, particularly during yielding when the band is being wound on the drum, the movement of the parts takes place very easily and very smoothly with a minimum of friction.

Thus, it will be seen that with the invention on the one hand injury to the structure is reliably avoided since the fluid under pressure can have only a predetermined maximum pressure, and on the other hand as a result of the plugs 18 it is possible to limit the fluid under pressure only to those cylinders which are actually surrounded by the band which is being Wound onto the drum, so that as a result no bending forces are applied to the member 6.

it will be understood that each of the elements described above or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of winding apparatus difiering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in band winding apparatus, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifica- :tions and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can byapplying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended Within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

-1. Apparatus for winding metal bands or the like, 1 comprising, in combination, a rotary drum having a segment movable with respect to and separate from the reinainder of said drum; elongated moving means extending axially along said drum and being movable with respect thereto in an expanding direction for moving said segment away from the axis of said drum and in a contractingdirec-tion for freeing said segment for movement toward the axis of said drum; a row of cylinder and piston rneans distributed along said elongated moving means for hydraulically moving the latter in said expanding a direction; a plurality of passage means respectively comrnunicating with said cylinder and piston means for feed- ,ing hydraulic fiuid thereto; and means in those passage means which communicate with a plurality of said cylinder and piston means adjacent each end of the row for pair of axially extending cutouts arranged on opposite sides of said groove symmetrically therewith; a pair of drurn'segrnents pivotally carried by said drum in said cutouts thereofirespcctively, for turning movement about a pair of axes respectivel parallel to the axis of said drum, said segments having free ends respectively located adjacent said groove; an elongated moving member extending axially of said drum in said groove thereo-t and being slidahle in said groove radially toward and away from the axis of said drum, said moving member having an outer longitudinal edge portion of substantially wedge shaped cross section cooperating with said free ends of said segments for turning the latter away from the axis of said drum when said moving member move-s radially away from the axis of said drum and freeing said segments for swinging movement inwardly toward the axis of said drum when said elongated moving member moves radially in said groove toward the axis of said drum, said elongated moving member being formed with a plurality of cylindrical recesses distributed longitudinally along said elongated member and having open ends respectively directed toward said inner surface of said groove; a plurality of pistons freely slidable in said cylindrical recesses, respectively; and an additional piston fixed to said drum at said inner surface of said groove thereof and being formed with an axial bore communicating with said axial bore of said drum, said elongated member being formed with an additional cylindrical recess receiving said additional piston and with a longitudinal distributor passage and with a plurality of transverse bores respectively extending from said passage to said cylindrical recesses whereby hydraulic fluid supplied to said axial bore of said drum will fiow through said axially bored piston into said distributor passage and from the latter through said transverse bores into said cylindrical recesses for placing said pistons, except said additional piston, against said inner surtace of said groove and moving said elongated moving member radially away :from the axis of said drum with the force of the pressure of a hydraulic fluid supplied into said axial bore of said drum in order to move said segments away from the axis of said drum.

3. Apparatus for winding metal bands and the like, comprising, in combination, a rotary drum formed with an axial bore, an axial groove having an inner surface forming that part of said groove which is nearest to the axis of said drum, and said drum being formed with a pair of axially extending cutouts arranged on opposite sides of said groove symmetrically therewith; a pair of drum segments pivotally carried by said drum in said cutouts thereof, respectively, for turning movement about a pair of axes respectively parallel to the axis of said drum, said segments having free ends respectively located adjacent said groove; an elongated moving member extending axially of said drum in said groove thereof and being slidable in said groove radially "toward and away from the axis of said drum, said moving member having an outer longitudinal edge portion of substantially wedgeshaped cross section cooperating with said free ends of said segments for turning the latter away from the axis of said drum when said moving member moves radially away from the axis of said drum and freeing said seg ments for swinging movement inwardly toward the axis of said drum when said elongated moving member moves radially in said groove toward the axis of said drum, said elongated moving member being formed with a plurality of cylindrical recesses distributed longitudinally along said elongated member and having open ends respectively directed toward said inner surface of said groove; a plurality of pistons freely slidable in said cylindrical recesses, respectively; and an additional piston fixed to said drtun at said inner surface of said groove thereof and being formed with an axial bore communicating with said axial bore of said drum, said elongated member being formed with an additional cylindrical recess receiving said additional piston and with a longitudinal distributor passage and with a plurality of transverse bores respectively extending from said passage to said cylindrical recesses whereby hydraulic iluid supplied to said axial bore of said drum will flow through said axially bored piston into said distributor passage and from the latter through said transverse bores into said cylindrical recesses for placing said pistons, except said additional piston, against said inner surface of said groove and moving said elongated moving member radially away from the axis of said drum with the force of the pressure of a hydraulic fluid supplied into said axial bore of said drum in order to move said seg ments away from the axis of said drum; and spring means cooperating with said elongated member for urging the latter inwardly toward the axis of said drum.

4. Apparatus for winding metal bands and the like, comprising, in combination, a rotary drum formed with an axial bore, an axial groove having an inner surface forming that part of said groove which is nearest to the axis of said drum, and said drum being formed with a pair of axially extending cutouts arranged on opposite sides of said groove symmetrically therewith, a pair of drum segments pivotally carried by said drum in said cutouts thereof, respectively, for turning movement about a pair of axes respectively parallel to the axis of said drum, said segments having free ends respectively located adjacent said groove; an elongated moving member extending axially of said drum in said groove thereof and being slidable in said groove radially toward and away from the axis of said drum, said moving member having an outer longitudinal edge portion of substantially wedgeshaped cross section, said elongated moving member being formed with a plurality of cylindrical recesses distributed longitudinally along said elongated member and having open ends respectively directed toward said inner surface of said groove; a plurality of pistons freely slidable in said cylindrical recesses, respectively; an additional piston fixed to said drum at said inner surface of said groove thereof and being formed with an axial bore communicating with said axial bore of said drum, said elongated member being formed with an additional cylindrical recess receiving said additional piston and with a longitudinal distributor passage and with a plurality of transverse bores respectively extending from said passage to said cylindrical recesses whereby hydraulic fluid supplied to said axial bore of said drum will flow through said axially bored piston into said distributor passage and from the latter through said transverse bores into said cylinders for placing said pistons, except said additional piston, against said inner surface of said groove and moving said elongated moving'mem'oerradially away from the axis of said drum with the force of the pressure of a hydraulic fluid supplied into said axial bore of said drum in order to move said segments away from the axis of said drum; a pair of elongated guide members respectively engaging the free ends of said segments and being slidably engaged by the exterior surface of said elongated moving member at said outer edge portion thereof of substantially Wedgeshaped cross section for turning the free ends of said segments away from the axis of said drum when said moving member moves radially away from the axis of said drum and freeing said segments for swinging movement inwardly toward the axis of said drum when said moving member moves radially toward said drum axis, said moving member and said guide members being formed with throttling passages of small cross section communicating with said cylinders to receive hydraulic liuid from the latter so that the hydraulic fluid will flow through said throttling passages to the exterior surface of said guide members for reducing the frictional engagement between the latter and said elongated moving memher and segments.

5. Apparatus for winding metal bands or the like, comprising, in combination, a rotary drum having a segment movable with respect to the remainder of the drum; moving means movably carried by said drum and cooperating with said segment for moving the latter away from the drum axis during movement of said moving means in an expanding direction and freeing said segment for movement toward the axis of said drum during movement of said moving means in a contracting direction; hydraulic means cooperating with said drum and moving means for moving the latter in said expanding direction, said hydraulic means including low pressure means for providing a fiuid at relatively low pressure for moving said moving means in said expanding direction preparatory to Winding a band on said drum; high pressure means cooperating with said hydraulic means for providing the latter with a fluid at a relatively high pressure for preventing movement of said moving means in said contracting direction until the force applied to the drum exceeds a given value; and means cooperating with said drum and re spending automatically to the winding of a band thereon for automatically rendering said high pressure means operative during Winding of a band on said drum.

6. Apparatus for Winding metal bands and the like, comprising, in combination, a rotary drum having a segment movable with respect to the remainder of said drum; elongated moving means movably carried by said drum and cooperating with said segment for moving the latter away from the axis of said drum when said moving means moves in expanding direction and freeing said segment for movement toward the axis of said drum when said moving means moves in a contracting direction; hydraulic means cooperating with said moving means for moving the latter in said expanding direction, said hydraulic means including low-pressure means for supplying a iiuid at low pressure for moving said moving means in said expanding direction preparatory to winding a band on said drum; high pressure means communicating With said hydraulic means for supplying the latter with fluid at high pressure for yieldably maintaining said segment in the position it takes after said moving means has moved in said expanding direction to yieldably resist the force of a band wound on said drum; pump means for first supplying said high pressure means and then supplying said low pressure means with fluid; and control means cooperating with said low pressure means and said high pressure means for actuating first said low pressure means to move said moving means in said expanding direction and then said high pressure means for providing fluid at high pressure to resist the force of a band wound on said drum.

7. Apparatus for winding metal bands and the like comprising, in combination, a rotary drum including a drum body and at least one segment which is movable with respect to said drum body, said drum body being formed with an axial bore adapted to be connected to a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure and said drum body being also formed with an axially extending cutout having an inner surface forming that surface of the cutout which is nearest to the axis of said drum; moving means movably carried by said drum and cooperating with said segment thereof, said moving means being movable in expanding direction for moving said segment away from the axis of said drum and said moving means being movable in an opposite direction for freeing said segment for movement toward said axis, said moving means including an elongated member slidably arranged in said cutout for movement in radial directions toward and away from said axis, said elongated member being formed with a row of cylindrical recesses directed toward said inner surface of said out out and with a longitudinal distributor passage and a plurality of transverse bores respectively communieating with said cylindrical recesses and said distributor passage; a piston fixed to said drum at said inner surface of said cutout and slidably arranged in one of said cylindrical recesses distant from the ends of said elongated member and being formed with an axial bore therethrough communicating with said axial bore of said drum; and a plurality of floating pistons respectively slidably arranged in the remaining cylindrical recesses and bearing against said inner surface or" said cutout during movement of said elongated member of said moving means in said expanding direction radially away from said axis and said inner surface of said cutout, so that fluid supplied to said axial bore of said drum will flow through said axial bore of said one piston into said one cylindrical recess, then through the transverse bore communicating with said one cylindrical recess into said distributor passage and then into said remaining cylindrical recesses of said elongated member.

8. Apparatus as recited in claim 7 and wherein a plurality of plug means are carried by said elongated member and respectively aligned with the transverse bores respectively leading to a predetermined number of cylindrical recesses at each end of said elongated member for optionally cutting oif communication between the latter cylindrical recesses and said distributor passage so that fluid under pressure will not be supplied to said predetermined cylindrical recesses adjacent the ends of said elongated member when said plug means are in positions closing said transverse bores, respectively, whereby the hydraulic fluid under pressure may be supplied only to those cylindrical recesses which are surrounded by a band wound on the drum.

References Jilted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,366,081 Wood Dec. 26, 1944 2,556,149 Talbot June 5, 1951 FORJGN PATENTS 1,074,746 France Apr. 7, 1954 741,309 Great Britain Nov. 30, 1955 

1. APPARATUS FOR WINDING METAL BANDS OR THE LIKE, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A ROTARY DRUM HAVING A SEGMENT MOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO AND SEPARATE FROM THE REMAINDER OF SAID DRUM; ELONGATED MOVING MEANS EXTENDING AXIALLY ALONG SAID DRUM AND BEING MOVABLE WITH RESPECT THERETO IN AN EXPANDING DIRECTION FOR MOVING SAID SEGMENT AWAY FROM THE AXIS OF SAID DRUM AND IN A CONTRACTING DIRECTION FOR FREEING SAID SEGMENT FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD THE AXIS OF SAID DRUM; A ROW OF CYLINDER AND PISTON MEANS DISTRIBUTED ALONG SAID ELONGATED MOVING MEANS FOR HYDRAULICALLY MOVING THE LATTER IN SAID EXPANDING DIRECTION; A PLURALITY OF PASSAGE MEANS RESPECTIVELY COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CYLINDER AND PISTON MEANS FOR FEEDING HYDRAULIC FLUID THERETO; AND MEANS IN THOSE PASSAGE MEANS WHICH COMMUNICATE WITH A PLURALITY OF SAID CYLINDER AND PISTON MEANS ADJACENT EACH END OF THE ROW FOR OPTIONALLY PREVENTING THE FLOW OF HYDRAULIC FLUID THERETO SO AS TO LIMIT THE SUPPLY OF HYDRAULIC FLUID TO THOSE CYLINDER AND PISTON MEANS WHICH ARE SURROUNDED BY A BAND WOUND ON THE DRUM. 